{"id":7962,"date":"2011-07-04T16:16:39","date_gmt":"2011-07-04T16:16:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.matthew-j-smith.com\/?p=7962"},"modified":"2014-10-06T01:43:28","modified_gmt":"2014-10-06T01:43:28","slug":"read-to-lead-1776-provides-leadership-lessons-for-ceos-and-chief-sales-officers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.matthew-j-smith.com\/?p=7962","title":{"rendered":"Read to Lead – 1776 Provides Lessons For CEOs and Sales Leaders"},"content":{"rendered":"

Are you a CEO looking to sharpen your leadership skills?\u00a0\u00a0 A sales leader wanting to improve your ability for managing under difficult times with limited resources?\u00a0\u00a0 A CMO needing examples for defeating a bigger, stronger competitor?\u00a0\u00a0 Instead of the business section at your local bookstore, head over to US history and pick up a copy of\u00a01776<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0 This highly relevant to today retelling of the American struggle for independence is written by David McCullough<\/a>, a Pulitzer Prize winning author on US history.<\/p>\n

1776 follows the challenges of the colonial leaders of early American independence over one of the most pivotal periods in our country\u2019s experience.\u00a0 Yes, you know how the story ends, but even the most diligent students of the Founding Fathers and US revolution and will learn something new in this exciting read.\u00a0\u00a0 What today seems like a clear-cut, unanimous act to break from England and a forgone conclusion for military victory was neither for the early citizens of the United States.<\/p>\n

At the middle of nearly every important meeting, decision and conflict, and seemingly carrying the new nation on his shoulders, is George Washington.\u00a0 A man who today seems more mythology than real person, Washington is central to this narration; at it focuses primarily on the military combat occurring over that famous year.<\/p>\n

Washington provides lesson after lesson for today\u2019s CEO\u2019s and Chief Sales Officers.\u00a0\u00a0 By observing how he managed adversity, motivated his leadership team, worked through the internal politics of congress and his own army, fought a tactical campaign against an overwhelmingly advanced foe, handled defeats and exploited advantages from key wins; today\u2019s business leaders can find numerous examples to learn from.<\/p>\n

One trait in particular which made Washington so successful over his military and political career was his ability to see things for what they were, not what he wished them to be.\u00a0\u00a0 Where others would be tempted to under- or over estimate a position or situation, Washington consistently assessed and reacted to the facts and reality.\u00a0\u00a0 Rarely did emotion or opinion influence him.\u00a0 \u00a0Today\u2019s business leaders can learn from that ability.\u00a0\u00a0 Whether it\u2019s underestimating a competitor or overestimating a sales pipeline, we\u2019re all tempted to make important decisions based on how we wish things to be, and the resulting consequences are often not what we hope for.<\/p>\n

By the final pages of 1776 you will have a fresh perspective and appreciation for the sacrifices and perseverance demonstrated by so many people over that inaugural year in US history.\u00a0\u00a0 Undoubtedly you will find plenty of leadership examples you can apply to your life as well.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Are you a CEO looking to sharpen your leadership skills?\u00a0\u00a0 A sales leader wanting to improve your ability for managing […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matthew-j-smith.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7962"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matthew-j-smith.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matthew-j-smith.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matthew-j-smith.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matthew-j-smith.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7962"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.matthew-j-smith.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7962\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8197,"href":"https:\/\/www.matthew-j-smith.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7962\/revisions\/8197"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.matthew-j-smith.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matthew-j-smith.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.matthew-j-smith.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}